Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from Brazil, Minas Gerais

Queijo Minas Artesanal da Canastra

Raw whole cow milk is worked within 90 minutes of milking, seeded with pingo (whey collected while salting the previous batch) and set with rennet in 40–90 minutes. The curd is cut to grains under 1 cm, pressed into moulds by hand and dry-salted on both faces. The 1–1.2 kg cheeses ripen on wooden shelves, turned and washed every few days, for a few weeks.

Fully documentedCheese22 daysIP (INPI IG201002, 2012-03-13); QMA microregion (IMA Portaria 694/2004)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts are per 100 L of milk as set in the indication-of-provenance rules (pingo 100–500 mL, rennet 20–40 mL of strength 1/10,000, dry salt 40–120 g per kg of curd); no additives are allowed. Cheeses weigh 1.0–1.2 kg.
Raw whole cow milk from the farm's own herd[rtiq2303][inpi-ficha]
Pingo (whey collected while salting the previous batch, used as natural starter)100–500 mL per 100 L of milk, by season and room temperature[rtiq2303][canastra-rules]
Rennet, dissolved in water20–40 mL per 100 L of milk for rennet of strength 1/10,000; otherwise as the maker recommends[canastra-rules]
Coarse or ground salt, 40–120 g per kg of curd[canastra-rules]
Starterpingo, the salted whey collected during salting of the previous batch

Total time across the recorded steps: 22 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Fresh raw milk is filtered into the vat soon after milking

Step 1 of 8
Milk and filter
Time
up to 1.5 h
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus
Lactobacillus rhamnosus
L. casei
L. plantarum

Filtered through a filter or washed synthetic cloth. The milk is not heated.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Raw whole cow milk is worked within 90 minutes of milking, seeded with pingo (whey collected while salting the previous batch) and set with rennet in 40–90 minutes. The curd is cut to grains under 1 cm, pressed into moulds by hand and dry-salted on both faces. The 1–1.2 kg cheeses ripen on wooden shelves, turned and washed every few days, for a few weeks. Made in 8 steps over 22 days. The longest step, ripen on wooden shelves, takes at least 22 days (Instituto Mineiro de Agropecuária (IMA) 2013) and runs at at least 12 °C (Instituto Mineiro de Agropecuária (IMA) 2024). Lactococcus, the most abundant genus in Canastra cheese; Lactobacillus rhamnosus, L. casei and L. plantarum were the main species isolated from milk and Canastra cheese in one study does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 22 daysSet[ima1305][rtiq2303]Ripen on wooden shelves
Temperatureat least 12 °CSet[rtiq2303]Ripen on wooden shelves

What makes this one different

It is seeded with whey collected while salting the previous batch, pressed only by hand and dry-salted on the faces, and ripens at room temperature on wooden shelves.

Rind
Thin, smooth, yellow, darker at edges; white or green mould with age
Size
Cylinder 15–17 cm across, 4–6 cm high; 1.0–1.2 kg
Moisture
At most 45.9 g per 100 g (state standard); about 41.7 g in one study
Ripening stages
Fresco (under four days), meia cura, and curado (from two weeks), as the IP rules name them

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is raw. The state standard requires processing within 90 minutes of milking, a set minimum ripening, moisture of at most 45.9%, and no Salmonella or Listeria monocytogenes in 25 g.

Hazards the sources name: Coagulase-positive staphylococci, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes, limited by the state standard (Salmonella and Listeria absent in 25 g).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Cheesemaking in the Canastra came with the families who settled the area during the mining rush, and the cheese was already an important food in the 19th century. In 2015, 2017 and 2019 Canastra cheeses won medals at the Mondial du Fromage in France.

  1. [rtiq2303] Instituto Mineiro de Agropecuária (IMA), Portaria IMA nº 2303 of 20 May 2024, technical regulation of identity and quality of Queijo Minas Artesanal (DOE-MG 21/05/2024, annex republished 30/05/2024), text as reproduced by LegisWebspec
  2. [ima1305] Instituto Mineiro de Agropecuária (IMA), Portaria IMA nº 1305 of 30 April 2013, art. 2 as worded by Portaria 1736/2017 (revoked by Portaria 1969/2020), text as reproduced by LegisWebspec
  3. [canastra-rules] APROCAN (Associação dos Produtores de Queijo Canastra), rules of use of the indication of provenance 'Canastra' for Queijo Minas, art. 11 manufacturing process, filed with INPIspec
  4. [inpi-ficha] INPI, technical sheet of the geographical indication registration 'Canastra' (IG201002)spec
  5. [penna2021] Penna A.L.B., Gigante M.L., Todorov S.D. 2021, Artisanal Brazilian Cheeses, History, Marketing, Technological and Microbiological Aspects, Foods 10(7):1562paper